See All the Stars by Kit Frick

Part love story, part thriller, We Were Liars meets Goodbye Days in this suspenseful, lyrical debut.It’s hard to find the truth beneath the lies you tell yourself.THEN They were four—Bex, Jenni, Ellory, Ret. Electric, headstrong young women; Ellory’s whole solar system.NOW Ellory is alone, her once inseparable group of friends torn apart by secrets, deception, and a shocking incident that changed their lives forever.THEN Lazy summer days. A party. A beautiful boy. Ellory met Matthias and fell into the be-ginning of a spectacular, bright love.NOW Ellory returns to Pine Brook to navigate senior year after a two-month suspension and summer away—no boyfriend, no friends. No going back. Tormented by some and sought out by others, troubled by a mysterious note-writer who won’t let Ellory forget, and consumed by guilt over her not entirely innocent role in everything and everyone she’s lost, Ellory finds that even in the present, the past is everywhere.The path forward isn’t a straight line. And moving on will mean sorting the truth from the lies—the lies Ellory has been telling herself.

Blurbs that compare a book to other books are always dancing on a thin line and can fall into spoiler territory pretty quickly. I somehow managed to ignore that first line of the description until I was about halfway through, but then it hit me. Does that mean…? It didn’t ruin the story, but took away from the mystery a bit.

The story is centered around Ellory May and her group of friends: Ret, Bex and Jenni. Their borderline toxic relationship is explored in depth as Ellory switches back and forth between then and now. The before and the after. This is not your typical frenemy story, however. There’s a fine line between someone feeling lost and insecure lashing out and one being outright manipulative for the sake of drama, and for quite a long time I was not sure just what to make of these girls.

The budding romance between Ellory and Matthias is pretty vanilla, and despite them being together for about nine months, it always seemed kind of innocent and cute. Until of course it wasn’t… Their relationship is not free of difficult moments, but they don’t center around some stupid love triangle or steamy drama, but happen because teenagers are not always equipped to deal with shit life throws at them. I loved how the author laid out their emotions so clearly, and yet Ellory refused to see the signs. Choosing to ignore what’s right in front of us is one thing many of us can relate to.

Ellory is a lovely girl with dreams of living in Portland and studying art, a clear plan for the future I found admirable, and a set of parents who are, in her words, annoyingly present. We never really meet them, but it’s clear they are involved in her life and are supporting, gently steering her down the path of self sufficiency.

One thing I particularly liked was the Ellory’s unapologetic mention of her therapist she started seeing after everything happened. She treats her visits as a necessary and helpful way to overcome her trauma, and never as a taboo, or something she should think of as a sign of weakness. Why should she? Therapy, and getting help for one’s mental health should never be something one should be ashamed of.

I wouldn’t say this was a thriller though. See All the Stars is more like a slow burning, character driven mystery, and while certainly suspenseful on occasion, the emphasis is on the emotions, not so much on the actions. There’s a lot of dreaming and wallowing going on, but it’s understandable under the circumstances and I found it conveying the story in a way that will hit you in the feels.

Who is Kit Frick?

Kit Frick is a novelist, poet, and MacDowell Colony fellow. Originally from Pittsburgh, PA, she studied creative writing at Sarah Lawrence College and received her MFA from Syracuse University. When she isn’t putting complicated characters in impossible situations, Kit edits poetry and literary fiction for a small press, edits for private clients, and mentors emerging writers through Pitch Wars. Her debut young adult novel is See All the Stars (Simon & Schuster / Margaret K. McElderry Books, August 14, 2018), and her debut full-length poetry collection is A Small Rising Up in the Lungs (New American Press, fall 2018).

This sounds like a really honest novel, which is something we very much need right now. I love how you mentioned the heroine being honest about seeing a therapist. 🙂 Awesome review, Norrie! I’m glad you enjoyed this one!

I like howyo highlight the good and so-so points of the book without giving too much away. Including what the event is. Though we can guess given this is a YA novel. From your review it sounds like a well thought out and enjoyable read and an author to look out for.

I was kind of surprised about the blurb and how they mentioned those books. I only read one of them, but it was kind of an “a-hha” moment.
I’m always worried about giving away crucial parts tho as well 😀

Oh, I love emotional novels, and this is definitely one I need to have on my radar. I appreciate knowing the genre of it, too. It’s tough going in expecting a thriller and getting something else. Wonderful review, Norrie! ♥️

This reminds me of my recent read, How We Learned to Lie by Meredith Miller. A slow burn of a book, that focused deeply on its characters. For some reason, those are the kind of books I enjoy terribly. Blame The Secret History if you must! But this sounds so good and I hope to read it someday 🙂

I am glad that we both enjoyed this book equally. Ahh, I missed the point about the therapist in my review. It was really a good thing though, the way she mentioned her therapist and how she was apologetic too about her lies.
Lovely review 🙂

Lovely review, Norrie! I really, really want to read that one – I’ve been anticipating it for a little while now and it sounds like the kind of book I could really love, somehow. I’m intrigued and I LOVE character-driven mysteries 🙂 Thank you for sharing! 😀

Book lover, cat hugger, coffee drinker, wiseass, capable of eating half a cheesecake in one sitting. Best not to approach before she had her breakfast.
Loves a good thriller, but would probably not touch romance with a stick. Based on the amount of crime fiction she’s read, could probably solve a crime. Or not, but she would certainly try. Loves science fiction and secretly dreams about joining the Starfleet since she was fourteen.
Hates ignorance and anything with coriander. Doesn’t operate well below 25 degree Celsius.